Top 10 Lines From Drake's "Take Care"
The Intro…
I’m hesitant to put the label of “Top Ten” on this post, because that’s not exactly what this is. As we are all aware, there are several different elements that make Drake who he is. Some people says he’s feminine, in touch with his simpin’ side, emotional, real, comical, etc., but the one thing we can say about him without any doubt is that he’s open about his life in his music. Because of that, we’re treated to a plethora of quotables that are laced throughout his second LP, “Take Care.”
Whether that’s for the best or worst remains to be seen as of this moment, but the lines are definitely memorable. So don’t consider this a “Top Ten Lines” post, but more of a springboard for some of the more, uh, potent, lines to come from Drake’s “Take Care.” Also, these lines aren’t to analyze their meanings (that’s what we do all day on Rap Genius, right?), but to point out WHY they’re…uh….potent.
As a bonus, I got a couple of extra lines to comment on at the bottom that has to do with “Take Care”, but not with Drake, so keep reading…
Ready?
(Note: these lines are presented in the order of appearance, not necessarily in rank)
“They got me on these White women like Seal, n-gga /
Slave to the p-ssy, but I’m just playing the field n-gga..”
–Drake’s “Over My Dead Body”
First and foremost, this is one of those lines that only Drake could pull off because of the references (and because of his DeGrassi roots). Most rappers don’t rack their brain to namedrop Seal in a verse, usually because it’s not exactly a great idea, and because USUALLY (EMPHASIS ON USUALLY) Black chicks don’t seem to like Black men dating White women. For some reason, this doesn’t apply to Seal anymore because (I’m assuming here) that Black chicks just gave up on the dude, and the only person who gets a pass to talk about it is Heartbreak Drake. Combine that with the fact Drake goes from that to a slick (but clever) slavery/plantation double entendre, and you have an interesting line for more reasons than one.
As an unrelated sidenote, I’ve never heard a Seal song before. I’m kind of proud of it…lowkey, though.
“The way you walk, that’s me, the way you talk, that’s me /
The way you’ve got your hair up, did you forget that’s me?”
–Drake’s “Shot For Me”
Anyone who actually LOOKS at this line in context could see the true meaning behind the rhyme (essentially, “Yeezy Taught Me”, but replace Yeezy for Drizzy), but for an unsuspecting troublemaker — like myself at times – this could be all the ammo someone needs to accuse Drake of being a cross-dresser in his private life.
I’m just saying.
“You know that they ain’t even got it like that /
you gon’ hype me up and make me catch a body like that..”
–Drake’s “Headlines”
We may not know the background to this story, but I’m sure Drake will make another song talking about this song soon since he does things like that. Who knows, it may even be another Hot Boyz-remake like “Practice.”
Ewwww. “Practice”…
All I can assume about “Headlines” is that before the song, something happened, and it make Aubrey upset to the point where he felt hype enough to say he’d catch a body over it, which is Urban-speak for a homicidal commitment.
“But wait,” you say, “Drake isn’t a hood cat! He has videos on Youtube of him getting upset at his mom for not bringing him a Tuna Sandwich on a bagel from Panera Bread, yo.”
And now you know why this line is relevant.
“The realest n-ggas say ‘Your lyrics do sh-t for me’ /
I told my story, and made his story (history)”
–Drake’s “Crew Love”
I could overreact here and say that the “Your lyrics do sh** for me” line makes me think of him exclaiming about working with Wayne (“OOOOH, he’s TOO good”), but that would be reaching, right? Honestly, it’s one of those clever double entendres that Drake’s getting better at throwing in the flow of a song. It’s also a snapshot line that represents a majority of the males that vibe with his music.
Yeah, we actually do exist. We just don’t go full-retard when talking about it like most females.
“F—k that n-gga that you think you found /
and since you picked up, I know he’s not around.”
–Drake’s “Marvin’s Room”
Drake’s so emotional…
But… this ties directly back into the previous statement, but for all of the wrong reasons. Unfortunately, some guys are NOT emotionally stable, to the point that they would actually do things like call their ex when they’re drunk just to vent. Dudes do this. And females entertain it on occasion. This line’s essentially the introduction to Pandora’s Box, because if the girl’s picked up the phone to see what’s up… Drake’s probably right.
And being a person that’s actually experienced this before (from the angle of the “guy not around”), my issue isn’t with the emotional dudes that do this, but the gullible girls that fall victim to this LINE. Call Drake emotional if you want, but I bet he’s gotten the drawers several times using this line BEFORE he put it in a song. That statement can wreak havoc on an unsuspecting conscious, and most girls who are open to a conversation with their ex get screwed over when the ex actually CALLS them on it.
Bold move, but it would explain the alcohol influences on this song, wouldn’t it?
“So I’m goin’ through her phone if she go to the bathroom /
in her purse right there I don’t trust these h—s at all”
–“Lord Knows”
This is one of three quotables that’ll be mentioned from “Lord Knows.” Relevant, because we have another side of Drake being shown here. Some people would call it the insecure side, or even a female trait (because dudes don’t usually check female phones………..that blatantly) but regardless of what you want to classify it as, it’s one of the grimiest lines you may hear, and Drake says it almost nonchalantly. It makes you wonder what else he snoops through when the girl’s not looking….
Female groupies, take heed; if you’ve slept with him, chances are he knows your Twitter password, especially if you tweet from your phone. Knowing Drake, he probably wrote the password down in his Blackberry for future references.
Then again, if a chick I knew set me up for a robbery, I’d overdo it too.
“I’m hearing all of the jokes, I know that they’re trying to push me /
I know that showing emotion don’t ever mean I’m a p-ssy /
I know that I don’t make music for n-ggas that don’t get p-ssy /
So those are the ones I count on to diss me or overlook me…”
–“Lord Knows”
What up, Pusha T?
Oh. Oh, snap. Let’s see how those returned shots play out.
“In this b—-h, all drinks on the house like Snoopy…”
– “Lord Knows”
This might be the best line on the album to me, and here’s why. ONLY Drake could’ve pulled this line off. If Jay or Kanye said it, people would look at them like they’re corny beyond words for making Peanut references. If someone said it in a Youtube freestyle, it would garner a chuckle, but it would be one of those bars that said Youtube spitter would punk out from using in real life because…well, some people might think it’s wack.
But Drake can say it because:
1) he’s Drake,
2) half of the people listening to him want him to say some outlandish bars anyway, and…
3) he was on Degrassi. By default, DeGrassi actors reference Charlie Brown at least twice a week.
True story.
This dude Drake said it at the end of his verse on a Just Blaze beat. No, not just any part of the beat, but the part where Blaze got the samples screaming their lungs out and the instrumentation blaring as if Jesus Himself was coming down out of the clouds to announce the end of the NBA lockout.
I’ll take Snoopy over the “Ball so hard muuhfuggas wanna fine me” line, anyday.
Sorry, guys.
“They keep telling me, ‘Don’t Save You’/
If I ignore all that advice, and something isn’t right/
then who will I complain to?”
– “The Real Her”
Drake admits to saving promiscuous women (Urban-speak: hoes).
Not those.
It was a matter of time, but I mean we knew he was Captain Save-A…right?
“I took her for sushi, she wanted to f—k so we took it to go, told them ‘don’t even plate it’” – “HYFR”
Drake has impeccable taste in women, obviously, but when it gets to the point where they can’t even plate sushi because he’s so ready to ‘go’? He literally just told them to throw it in the bag, yo.
But what happens if they ordered different kinds of sushi? Would they mind about it touching? Did they get separate bags, or would that take too long, too? How come they just didn’t get someone to deliver it to them? Did they find a trashcan outside and just go at it like that dude in “Kick-Ass”? Is mixing sushi even sanitary? (#FirstWorldProblems)
If said female KNEW she was raining beforehand, how come she just didn’t tell Drake? I don’t imagine Drake being the one to say NO to inner-thigh precipitation. I mean, imagine if hypothetically he was with a female named Maliah or something.
Maliah: “Baby, you ready?”
Aubrey: “Nah, not right now.”
Maliah: “That can wait-”
Aubrey: “Nah, nah, I gotta get my California Rolls and Soy Sauce. Save that for me later, I can’t do anything when I’m hungry.”
See? That doesn’t even sound right.
The Bonus Lines…
“He asked my sign, I said a Sag /
I’m A Star…Sheriff Badge.”
– Nicki Minaj, “Make Me Proud”
FACEPALM
Yo, I’m not a rapper. By any means… but this is the second worst bar I’ve heard ALL year (it was the first until Ludacris snatched it back with his newest mixtape release). It’s painful to even hear, and I know that pause/hashtag/supa dupa flow is a rap form but does it have to be this blatant? My homie Jake told me she said this line and I originally didn’t believe it. Nicki’s got some good and bad bars, but I’m initially thinking there’s no way she’d say that..
…But If she said it, there’s no way it’ll make a verse, and if it made a verse there’s no way it’ll be on an album, and if it’s on an album there’s absolutely NO way she’ll OK that to be pushed as a single.
Turns out, I don’t know ANYTHING, man…
“Now the both of us are colorblind cuz the other side looks greener /
Which leaves your turf in a Boise State, can’t see a play or the team, cuz….”
– Andre 3000, “The Real Her”
Answering this as a football fan…
Ever watched a home Boise State college football game? They start like this…
And by halftime, it looks like this.
It’s extra work to just distinguish the players from the field, lol. I usually just watch to see the field goal kicker shank potential season-ending kicks off his foot (we got another one this season! Two years in a row! Incredible!) but even getting to that point’s frustrating. Watching a full game in HD makes my head hurt from trying to distinguish their outfits, more specifically their pants. As the team alternates colors, the home pant colors stay the same. Why? No idea.
I would say that they should take notes from Penn State’s pants, but Jerry Sandusky would probably like that…so nevermind.
“Villa on the water with the wonderful views /
Only fat n-gga in the sauna with Jews…”
– Rick Ross, “Lord Knows”
Bawse.
You know how Kanye re-coined the phrase “Sophisticated ignorance” in Otis? Well, this line from Rick Ross might be the best example of that we’ll see this year. Never mind the stereotype he uses, never mind how good he’s living in the song, just the fact that he had the audacity to SAY this line…
Yeah, that just happened.
There’s several other lines that could be mentioned and expounded on, but I think the point’s across pretty well. Regardless of all the jokes, Drake did a pretty good job here, and it’s on pace to sell well over 600k first week (thanks to people like me who actually bought the album, I guess). What other lines stuck you as memorable or quote-worthy? Let us know.
Until next time…
